Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Bulgaria

Bulgaria vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Bulgaria is 35.9% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 65.4% more in Bulgaria
Groceries: pay 3.2% less in Bulgaria
Transportation: pay 37.6% more in Bulgaria
Housing: pay 55.8% more in Bulgaria
Childcare: pay 3.4 times more in Bulgaria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.3% less in Bulgaria
Clothing: pay 9.7% more in Bulgaria

The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, transportation, and clothing in Bulgaria are more expensive than in Malawi. Expenses including entertainment and sports and groceries are lower in Bulgaria. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Bulgaria.

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Bulgaria vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bulgaria instead of Malawi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 65.4% more for restaurants

	Malawi	Bulgaria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$10.15 BGN17.66	+125.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$9.64 BGN16.77	+12.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$1.44 BGN2.50	+35.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$1.01 BGN1.75	+93.4%
Average			+65.4%

Malawi vs. Bulgaria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.2% less for groceries

	Malawi	Bulgaria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$0.95 BGN1.65	-39.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$4.69 BGN8.16	-2.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$6.44 BGN11.21	+49.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$3.03 BGN5.28	+31.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$3.28 BGN5.70	+33.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$0.70 BGN1.22	-35.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	$0.85 BGN1.47	+4.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$0.80 BGN1.39	-11.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$1.05 BGN1.82	+38.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$0.51 BGN0.89	-33.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$0.44 BGN0.77	-17.0%
Average			-3.2%

Malawi vs. Bulgaria - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.6% more for transportation

	Malawi	Bulgaria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$6.06 BGN10.54	+1.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$23.17 BGN40.33	+436.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$30,114.16 BGN52,407.07	-14.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$7.01 BGN12.19	-45.0%
Average			+37.6%

Malawi vs. Bulgaria - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.8% more for housing

	Malawi	Bulgaria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$13.39 BGN23.30	-78.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$353.09 BGN614.48	-8.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$263.80 BGN459.09	+163.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$82.79 BGN144.08	+200.8%
Average			+55.8%

Malawi vs. Bulgaria - Cost of housing

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pay 3.4 times more for childcare

	Malawi	Bulgaria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$384.45 BGN669.05	+3.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$6,445.67 BGN11,217.27	+985.7%
Average			+235.7%

Malawi vs. Bulgaria - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Bulgaria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$2.06 BGN3.59	+25.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$2.17 BGN3.77	-27.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$3.64 BGN6.33	+51.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$31.52 BGN54.86	-30.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$7.19 BGN12.52
Average			-8.3%

Malawi vs. Bulgaria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.7% more for clothing

	Malawi	Bulgaria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$49.90 BGN86.85	+15.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$29.26 BGN50.92	-26.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$77.75 BGN135.31	+59.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$76.05 BGN132.34	+8.0%
Average			+9.7%

Malawi vs. Bulgaria - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Malawi vs. Bulgaria

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Bulgaria?

Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Make 30.3 times more money in Bulgaria

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is around the same size as Bulgaria.

Moving from Malawi to Bulgaria · UN DESA 2020

2 people born in Malawi live in Bulgaria.

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